CLEFT GRAFTING 



365 



in use, and a mallet with a thong to slip over the wrist or a 

 spur on the tree will eliminate trips to the ground to pick up 

 fallen tools. All supplies may be carried in a basket equipped 

 with a hook for hanging on the branches. A wood mallet is 

 necessary because the chisel would break under the blows of 

 an iron or steel hammer. 



(6) Selecting Cions. For cions take wood of the previous 

 season^s growth. This will be the terminal growths or shoots 

 from trees of the variety desired. Take them from bearing 

 trees, if possible, to be sure of the variety. Use only well- 

 developed buds on mature wood. The extreme tips formed late 

 the previous season are usually soft w^ith poor buds and Should 

 be discarded. Suckers, water sprouts, or young adventitious 

 growi:hs will do if the w^ood is mature and the buds w^ell de- 

 veloped. 



Store the cions in a cool, moist place where they will re- 

 main dormant until used. Place them in moist sawdust, sand, 

 or moss, or roll them in a moist cloth. Do not keep them 

 soaked with water, as this softens the bark and may cause 

 them to decay. A favorite storage place on farms has been in 

 the sawdust on top of the ice pack in the ice house. Cions cut 

 early may be buried in a dry sandy knoll out of doors. 



If the grafting is done while the trees are entirely dormant, 

 the cions may be cut as needed. Cions that show injury from 

 cold, indicated by a browning of the tissue beneath the bark, 

 should not be used. 



(c) Making the Cleft. Select a smooth area on the branch 

 or stock, free from knots, where the grain is straight, and saw 

 off the stock just beyond this point. In placing the chisel to 

 make the cleft, put it in such a position that the cions when 

 inserted will be in a horizontal rather than a vertical plane. If 

 the cleft is vertical, the lower cion will grow up directly into 

 the one above. This of course does not apply to grafting in 

 the trunk. 



Make the cleft with the chisel and mallet from 2 to 4 

 inches deep, starting the cleft carefully and cutting the bark 



